Critique Rules and My Two Cents, or How To Win A Prize for Doing It Correctly

First off, I want to send a big thanks to Scott Eagan of Greyhaus for such an insightful guest blog yesterday. Not only did we love the blog, but you were kind enough to hang out and answer questions and respond to comments.

Thanks, Scott!

Now down to other conference business.

CRITIQUE SUBMISSIONS.

The instructions on how to submit is available on the website (www.myscww.org/conference) and inside the registration grid, but I wanted to post them here to make sure everyone reads them before sending submissions. I’ve posted the rule in yellow and my extra two cents in white.

THE RULE: All manuscripts, including the optional synopsis, must be double-spaced, with standard one-inch margins. Please include your name, the page number, and the name of your manuscript on each page. LES ADVICE: A header is best way to do this. In MS Word, click on VIEW, HEADER AND FOOTER, then type your name and title in the grey box that appears on the top of the page. Then go to INSERT, click on INSERT PAGES and follow the prompts.

THE RULE: Write the genre of your submission in the lower left hand corner of the envelope.LES ADVICE: Use a Sharpie or a Red Pen. Pencil will become blurred and illegible by October.

THE RULE: Send two hard copies to LateiaSandifer, SCWW Board, PO Box 503, Bamberg, SC 29003.LES ADVICE: Make sure to copy the address EXACTLY. We’ve already had issues with this—it has something to do with the way Post Office computers sort mail—I know it’s stupid, but. The long and short of it is: COPY THE ADDRESS EXACTLY.

THE RULE: Email a copy to critiques2009@myscww.org. Put your document in .RTF or .DOC format.LES ADVICE: Make sure it’s in one of the above formats. This year we will be sending many of the submissions electronically. Due to compatibility issues, they must be in one of the above formats. To do this, open your document, go to SAVE AS. Name your document and then in the drop down, below the name, select one of the above formats.

THE RULE: All submissions must be postmarked by September 1, 2009.LES ADVICE: I will be checking postmarks. I will notify you via email when I get your submissions—both parts. If more than seven (7) business days have passed since you mailed or emailed, and you don’t get word of receipt, EMAIL ME because something might have gone awry.

THE RULE: Upon arrival at the conference, you will be notified of the time, place, and faculty member for your 20-minute appointment or group critique session.LES ADVICE: We’ll do everything we can to make sure you get one of your three choices. However, if we are unable to do this, we will call or email you to discuss options. Please don’t call or email and ask for a guarantee of faculty member because we’re unable to give it to you. It’s not that we don’t want to—it’s simply that there are so many variables—length of critique, registration order, scheduling—that we can’t guarantee your first choice. Rest assured, we have thoroughly checked-out all of our faculty and they are all more than capable of giving you a professional analysis of your work.

Now for the INSIDER’S BONUS:If you submit correctly, following the above rules, you’ll save me lots of time. And I like that. A lot. To show you read and followed the rules, put a sticker—any sticker, even a price sticker—on the envelope and I’ll put your name in a drawing for a prize to be awarded at registration. I’ll make sure it’s a SUPER COOL PRIZE. This is the only place the prize will be mentioned, so if you put a sticker on your envelope, I’ll know two things: 1. You followed directions and 2. You read the blog. Both of which make me VERY, VERY HAPPY.